


Fuck You and Your Three-Wolf-Moon Shirt

by Gravity_Sun



Series: JayDick Week October 2016 [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Animal Transformation, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Shapeshifting, obligatory 2016 netflix and chill joke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 08:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8394727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gravity_Sun/pseuds/Gravity_Sun
Summary: “I have an idea...How about, if you change into something else, anything that’s not a canine by Halloween, I’ll kiss you.”The world stops.“What?”“I’ll kiss you, however you want. Wherever you want.”JayDick Week 3 Day 1 - Animal Shapeshifters





	

**Author's Note:**

> I spent 3 days struggle-bussing this story. It passed like a kidney stone.
> 
> Jason and Dick are both in their teens

            If Jason Todd could sum up this situation in three words, it would be ‘fuck Dick Grayson’. But he can’t. He can’t say much of anything right now, as he’s standing silently in a confessional, naked as the day he was born, holding his junk and hoping to God that he

  1. Existed
  2. Would make it so that no one felt particularly confession-y that day. Because then he’d have a whole lot of explaining to.



            Like, why he’s in a church. In a confession booth. Naked.

            And then, in that case, he’d only be able to sigh ‘fuck Dick Grayson’.

 

**Two weeks prior**

 

            Jason closed his eyes and heaved out a heavy sigh, relaxing into the earth. He’d be dirty when he got home. Alfred would be pissed, but it was worth it. He could hear the world around him. The rabbit 10 meters away from him, who, when the wind shifted, would be able to catch a whiff of him, and ultimately run. He thought about giving chase, it was a good bit of fun but ultimately without much payoff, as Jason could never bring himself to actually _eat_ anything. Like, sure, he was a wolf. A rather massive one, might he add. But something about eating an animal raw didn’t exactly sit well with him. He’d heard of some shifters who went ‘full native’, living and eating and even mating like their animal forms, but that wasn’t really his style.

            He’s halfway to dozing when his ears perk up. Something is approaching him, four legs and panting and -- Dick. He can tell by the smell. Shifters never have quite the same smell as the animal they’ve shifted into. It’s Dick. It’s always fucking Dick.

            _‘Can’t get a moment’s peace.’_ He thinks _‘Not that you’re_ really _complaining.’_

            Dick, in full on fluffy show dog golden retriever form, flops on the ground next to him.

 _“A wolf.”_ Dick says, and Jason takes a moment to silently belabour shifting telepathy. _“How’d I know? Always a wolf.”_

            Jason doesn’t bite, just shifts and turns his head away from Dick. This was **his** grassy hill. **His** sunspot. He found it on his own. Dick can find another one.

            _“So cold, Jaybird.”_ Dick says, soft whine for emphasis, pressing his nose to Jason’s neck, nuzzling a bit _“Where’s the love?”_

Jason forces himself to remain still, to not feel the affection radiating off of Dick. To not give in and cuddle up next to him. Which is to say, let Dick shift into something smaller and nestle in his fur. Which, he loves more than he’ll ever admit.

_“Buried under annoyance and seething hatred.”_

_“Ah. But it **is** there.”_

Jason rolls his eyes, lets out an annoyed huff. Dick shifts again, this time into a border collie, jumping around and nipping at him, tail wagging.

 _“Come onn_ , _Jay.”_ Dick presses _“I’ve been cooped up **all** day. Had to skip gymnastics,  then sit and look pretty for Bruce’s sponsors.”_

“ _Well, you are good at that,”_ Jason let’s slip, forgetting to mask that thought from Dick. Without opening his eyes, he can feel Dick grinning at him.

_“Jay,” Dick cooes, and Jason can tell he shifted again, feel the light paws on his back as kneads and purrs “Did you just give me a compliment?”_

_“I’m going to give you a bite, if you don’t leave me alone”_

_Dick laughs, a deep earthy sound in his mind, in contrast to the slim cat he now was._

_“Promises promises.”_ He says, climbing up Jason’s back, laying across his head. Jason can feel Dick’s purring between his ears, and he’s almost content to fall asleep right then and there. Until, Dick continues _“Not that I’m not a fan of the wolf form. I mean, it’s awesome.”_ Dick begins licking at his ears. Despite himself, Jay’s tail starts to wag _“But, you know you can change into other things, right?”_

And that’s just the thing.

He can’t.

Dick has always been able to shift easily. Most people don’t start shifting until puberty, maybe a year or two before but Dick was, according to Bruce, shifting as a toddler. He recounted hearing stories from Dick’s old circus troupe, of Dick changing and hiding in the animal pins and them being unable to tell who was Dick and who wasn’t, until, inevitably, he dozed off and shifted back.

Once, they’d accidentally brought the wrong animal back to his parents, who then spent several hours caring for a baby bengal tiger only to later find Dick napping in the cage, and a **very** pissed off literal tiger mom.

Jason, on the other hand, had been a later bloomer. He found out he was a shifter because his mother was a shifter. Though Mom was generally too drugged up to teach him much. He’d managed a dog a few times, with great difficulty and usually a lot of puking and passing out. But the first time he’d grown angry enough to stop his father from beating his mother, to put himself between her and his father that he shifted into a wolf for the first time.

And the form just ... _stuck_. It grew as he did. First a scrawny, mangy thing, but terrifying enough to scare his dad off, and then to his form now. Large and hulking, fur black as pitch, terrifying to anyone who saw him.

While he _can_ shift into other things, he’s just rarely successful at it. Different wolves? Check. Large dogs? Check. But anything else... doesn’t seem to go his way.

Dick shifted forms as easily as breathing. Only a few seconds in between each change, it never seeming to take much out of him. Suddenly, as Dick moved over to lick behind his other ear, Jason was reminded of one of the first times he ever saw Dick shift. Haley’s had made an appearance in Gotham and of course everyone just had to see the last Flying Grayson. Bruce had made Jason tag along with Dick to practice and he sat in the (pews, rafters? audience?).

Dick was a thing of beauty. It didn’t help that Jay was starting to figure out which direction he swung in, but he sat staring, cheeks pink and dick half hard in his jeans. Dick would swing out so far, so far that Jason was afraid he wouldn’t be able to swing back but he did. He always did until the one time he didn’t. Until the one time he let go and spiraled in the air. Everyone on the crowd gasped, Jason wanted to scream but he couldn’t get his mouth to work but Dick didn’t break a sweat. Just shifted. Shifted into a jay bird and flew around the arena. Jay remembers staring up at him in awe, wishing he was a bird.

Then remembering he wasn’t.

He was a wolf. Now, and seemingly forever.

Dick is dozing on his back now, curled in on himself, Jay too lost in thought to stop him, and too kind to wake him.

 _‘Fine.’_ He mutters to himself, laying his head on his paws. _‘We can share the sunlight.’_

He wakes a little while later, to Dick, still as a cat, kneading his fur, nuzzling his neck.

 _“Are we gonna start yiffing soon?”_ Jay asks

Dick pauses, and Jason can smell the annoyance coming off of him.

 _“We’re not furries.”_ He says, kneading a bit _too_ hard. Pretty much all claws.

Jason likes that more than he should, and makes a mental note to unpack that much, _much_ later.

 _“That’s what I like to tell myself.”_ Jason sighs shifting Dick off of him, stretching, shaking the dirt off of his fur. Dick gives an annoyed growl at the dirt that’s now on him.

 _“Where are your clothes?”_ Dick asks, making his way towards what Jason suspects are his. He follows.

He shrugs. As much as a wolf can manage.

_“I dunno.”_

_“You know Alfred is going to kill you.”_

_“He’ll live.”_

_“He’s not gonna let you in the house like that.”_ Dick says. Then shifts back to himself, almost like it’s an after thought “He’ll beat you with the newspaper again.”

If Jay is panting he’ll blame it on being a huge fucking canine, and not on the fact that Dick’s body, Dick’s _fully nude_ body was a thing of beauty that looked like it had been carved out of marble.

Jay whines, digs at the dirt. Now that Dick was in human form, Dick couldn’t understand him. Dick raises an eyebrow, pulling on his sweatpants. Jason lets out a sigh, and shifts back.

If nothing else, he could still take comfort in the fact that he was still taller than Dick, larger.

“I said.” Jason says, pretending he doesn’t see the obvious once over that Dick gives him “Not everyone can shift into the tabby cat he had when he was 8 to get on his good side.”

“That’s the thing.” Dick says, slapping him on the shoulder in what Jay was sure was meant as encouragement, but just wound up hurting “You can. You totally can.”

“Dick, we’ve been over this--.”  
“Would you like me to teach you?” Dick moves in front of him on light feet, standing on tiptoe, grinning ear to ear

“I--.”

“Come on. It’ll be fun~” he sing songs “Think about it, we could open up the whole animal kingdom to you. You could be Alfred’s cat..”

“That’s more your shtick.” Jason interrupts “Not all of us like curling up in aging British men’s laps.”

“You could fly.” Dick continues.

            And that makes Jason pause in his tracks. Because he’s always wanted to. It’s something he’s been dreaming of since he realized he was a shifter. But every time he jumped and tried to grow wings he just wound up in the dirt.

“And, think of all the time we’ll get to spend together.”

            If Dick meant that phrase to continue on with ‘as brothers’, Jay didn’t catch it. Especially not from the way that Dick stepped close to him, eyes half lidded.

            He could feel the heat from his skin, smell lingering traces of earth.

“So... what do you say?”

 

X

 

            It turned out, the only thing he could say was ‘yes’. Despite not being a wolf, Alfred whacked him with the evening paper anyway for walking in naked, and losing _yet another_ set of clothes.

“Oh look, it’s Jason the Wolf Boy” Tim called to him around a mouth full of marshmallows as he strode through the kitchen, dish towel covering his junk, with as much dignity as he could manage.

“Fuck you, Tim. Fuck you and your Three Wolf Moon shirt.”

 

X

 

            Training with Dick was as frustrating as it was enjoyable. Watching Dick talk about shifting, about the different forms he could take was incredible. The light in his eyes as he described flying was..

“--about you?”

            Jay shook his head to clear his thoughts, realizing he’d been staring. Tracing the shadows that fell across Dick’s face with his eyes.

“What?”  
“When did you first shift?”  
“I told you. I was 9.”

“But why?”

“Why what?”

“ _Why_ did you shift? What caused you to? I’ve been shifting for so long I don’t remember. It’s just... always been a thing. But you started later. What caused you to?”  
            The blood running down his mother’s face. The cut phone cord. The fist cocked back, gearing up for more.

“I don’t remember.” He lies

“Why a wolf?”

            _‘Who’s afraid of the big bad...’_

“I don’t know.” He lies again

            Dick looks at him, before sighing.

“Okay. Well, why don’t you try shifting again?”

“Because that worked so well the last 42 times?”  
“It’s only been 22. And you’ll live. Come on. I think you almost had the cat last time. Totally saw a whisker.”

“No you didn’t.”  
“No, I didn’t. But, I think you can get it. You’ve just gotta...” Dick frowned, working his hands in an attempt to make some sort of, what Jason assumed was an explaining gesture, but just wound up looking like a drunken mime. “... do it.”

“Thanks Dickie. That’s real helpful.”

“I’m sorry. Shifting for me has always just been kinda... I dunno. I just feel it and then I am it.”

“ _Feel_ it?”  
“Like...  when I want to shift into a bird... sometimes, I think about how my mom used to call me Robin. How _light_ that made me feel.”

            Jason swallowed the lump in his throat. It was beautiful and sad watching Dick talk about his parents. They’d both lost both of theirs, but Dick’s parents were _parents_. The kind that love you, kiss the top of your head and tuck you in at night. Jason’s were... well... _not_.

“I feel wings at my back and then...” He shrugs “Then I am one.” Dick scoots closer. Jason can smell the lingering scent of his soap “Is that how it is when you become a wolf?”

“No.” Jason says, at length “No.”

“Then, what is it?”

            _‘If he hits her again he’ll kill her. He’ll kill her and then he’ll kill --.’_

“I dunno.” He lies “It just sort of happens.”

            Dick stares at him, seeing right through him, as always.  But, he doesn’t press.

“You know what?” He asks, tapping his chin thoughtfully “I have an idea.”

 

X

“You know, when you asked if I wanted to Netflix and chill, I pictured a totally different evening.”

“Why? Is this not what that means?” Dick asks around a mouth full of snacks

            Jason sighs, settling back into the couch and listening to David Attenborough talk about birds of paradise. Somehow, Dick thought if Jason learned more about animals it’d be easier to shift into them. Makes sense, but not exactly where Jason thought (hoped) the evening was going.

            Dick shifts the bowl of popcorn in between them out of the way, and scoots closer on the couch, leaning into Jason.

“You’re warm.” Dick says, sleepily “It’s cold.”  
“Put on a shirt.”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life.” Dick jokes, shifting even closer “When you’re a wolf, you’re practically a part-time furnace.”

“And yet I somehow still manage to have a full-time annoying brother.”

            He feels the slight tense in Dick’s shoulder at the word ‘brother’ and immediately regrets his words. He opens his mouth to say something, when Dick shifts and pounces, knocking him over on the couch, pinning him down and climbing over him.

            Dick’s not using any real force to hold him, and Jason knows that the hold isn’t really meant to restrain, but before he can open his mouth to force out what he _hopes_ is a convincing complaint, Dick speaks:

“Are you sure ‘annoying’ is the word you wanna use, _Lil’ bro_?”

            _‘God just say yes. Say yes and push him off of  you and oh God do not pop a boner right now come on, man.’_

“Because,” Dick leans closer. He smells good. He always smells _so_ good. He grins at him, ear to ear.

            Jason suddenly remembers the first time they met. When he was sitting in that shit hole of an orphanage hoping they’d actually have enough money to feed everyone tonight when Dick strode right up to him, looked down at him, beaming, and said:

“I know what you are.”

            Apparently, he and Bruce had been in the area, and Dick had been able to sense him. It’s a skill he never picked up, but Bruce took him home the following day, Dick sitting with him in the backseat, practically shaking with giddiness.

 

            Dick’s hips shift and snap him back to the present, he’s leaned closer and Jason forces his hands into fists to resist the urge to touch him. To slide under the sweatpants that he _knew_ Dick wasn’t wearing anything under.

            Dick brushes his nose with his own in a way that makes Jason’s heart warm and his cock twitch, before speaking.

“I have an idea.”

“Is it better than your interpretation of ‘Netflix and Chill’.”

            Dick looks down at their bodies.

“Are you complaining.”

            _‘No, God no absolutely not.’_

“Maybe.”

            Dick ignores him.

“How about, if you change into something else, _anything_ that’s not a canine by Halloween, I’ll kiss you.”

            The world stops.

“What?”

“I’ll kiss you, however you want. _Wherever_ you want.”

            Jason swallows, mouth gaping open, trying to find something, anything to say other than:

“Okay.”

            _‘Fuck’._

“Good.” Dick says, rolling off of Jason, but staying at his side “The documentary on lions is next.”

 

X

 

They must’ve watched every single animal documentary on Netflix. Tim had even bought him animal flash cards, which he and Dick made a game of seeing how fast Dick could shift into each one (the elephant broke the floor and Alfred banned the game from being played, ever again), but to no avail. Jason just couldn’t seem to get it.

“Look, it’s just not gonna work.” Jason sighs, rubbing his temples. He’s shaking with frustration. “We’ve been trying every day and nothing happens.”

“Something is blocking you... or you’re not thinking about it the right way, or you’re thinking about it too much.”

“That’s real helpful, Dickie.” Jason sighs  
“I’m just saying, you can’t be afraid of it. It’s in your nature.”

“Don’t tell me what’s in my nature!” Jason shouts “It’s not _easy_ like it is for you. It’s just not... I  just can’t, okay?!”

            Dick lets out an annoyed sound and then Jason is blinking down at the seemingly empty sweatpants that used to hold Dick. His shock overtook his rapidly building annoyance because _holy fuck_ Dick had just teleported or some shit and Jason didn’t even know that was _possible._ Well, okay, he knew it was possible, but not that Dick could do it and if Dick could did that mean that _he_ could and oh no wait...

            Jason squints at the pants, leaning in closer.

            There’s a small bulge shifting, moving upwards. He follows it with his eyes, as it makes its way out of the top.

            Jason sighs. Pinching the bridge of his nose.

            There’s on its his hind legs, stood a ferret.

“Really, Dickie?”

            The ferret fidgeted a bit, turning it’s head at Jay. Obviously, Dick was waiting for Jay to shift so they could communicate.

“No.” Jason says, pushing himself to his feet with a lot less grace than he’d like to admit. “No. I’m done for the day.”

            Dick chirped at him, running in a quick circle before standing back on his hind legs. Jason couldn’t deny how fucking cute it was, but still. No. He’d had enough. He began making his way towards the door when Dick’s body pulsed, and he shifted again. This time into a cat, and pranced towards him, meowing loudly and brushing against his ankles. Jason rolled his eyes, tried to step over him but Dick was faster, latching on to the hem of his pants and pulling.

“Dick. Stop. I’m done. I don’t want to shift.”

            Dick growls. A low rumbling sound that Jason knows stems more from frustration than anything, but it still makes him pause for a brief second, before pushing forward, dragging Dick, still clinging to his pants, with him.

            He’s most of the way to the door when Dick shifts again, this time into a parrot, that lands on his shoulder.

            Jason sighs.

“Come on.”

“Come on.” Dick repeats, cawing. “Come on.”

“Get off.” Jason swats at him

“No.” Dick says. Then repeats “No.”

            Jason swats harder, this time, nearly making contact until Dick flies off, wings flapping. Jason walks the remaining few steps towards the door, when he hears a soft thud, and a bark. Jason turns, and there’s Dick, as a dog, tail wagging, panting.

            Jason sighs so hard he’s sure a piece of what remains of his soul flees his body.

“You really don’t get it, do you?”

            Dick chases his tail for a second, before moving towards Jay, barking happily.

“You just... you don’t understand.”

            Dick cocks his head, one ear falling in confusion.

“Do you think...” Jason continues, his hand opening and closing uncontrollably into a fist “Do you think I want to watch you--.”

            He’s shifting before he can stop himself. His eyes shut and power rolls through his body and he’s on all fours, big and warm and _powerful and **safe**_ and Dick is sitting there, staring at him.

_“Do you think I want to just sit here and watch you shift all day? To rub it in my face?”_

_“Jay, I wasn’t...”_ Dick’s voice in his head is shocked _“That wasn’t what I meant--. I... didn’t think--.”_

 _“No, Dickie. You didn’t think. You **never** think!” _Jason advances on Dick. Dick’s ears fall flat, Jason can hear his heartbeat increase. _“You just do things and never think about how the affect anyone else. Always **so** selfish.”_

_‘I don’t mean--. I wanted to help--.’_

            Dick doesn’t get the rest of the sentence out, because his mind shuts down and he moves on instinct. Without realizing, Jason lunches towards Dick, intent on knocking him to the ground. Dick moves just in time, and Jason lands with a heavy thud, body sliding into a table and knocking a lap over, which shatters. Alfred is going to be pissed but--

_“Always teasing me. Always shifting and pressing against me, touching me, climbing into bed with me. Mocking me!”_

_“Jaybird, please. I’m not--.”_

_“ **Stop calling me that**.”_

            Jason swipes at Dick, and this time he’s not so lucky. Dick manages to move, but not all the way out of the way in time and Jason’s claws catch his hind leg, tearing. Dick yelps, both out aloud and in his mind and in seconds there’s blood running down his leg, onto the carpet. Dick limps, whimpering.

_“Jason, calm down. I don’t want to fight.”_

_“Of course you don’t. You never do. You fucking coward.”_

Jason feels more than sees the alarm run across Dick’s body.

_“Cute puppies and kittens and birds. Why don’t you ever transform into anything else, Dickie? You have the whole animal kingdom at your disposal and you choose to look like a mall petstore.”_

_“Jay...”_

_“I’ll tell you why.”_ He snarls, teeth baring. Dick takes a few steps back. Jason can smell the fear rolling off of him and it’s intoxicating in a way _“Because you’re afraid to. Afraid to become something dangerous. Afraid of the ‘Big Bad Wolf’.”_

            If Dick tries to say anything else, Jason doesn't hear it. He lunges forward and his mind goes blank, there’s nothing, just power and warmth and The Wolf. Just like when he runs free at night, just the earth beneath his feet and the strength in his body, his mind is blank.

            That is, until he tastes the blood in his mouth.

            He snaps back to himself, and is frozen in abject horror. Dick is whimpering, pawing, pressing at his face feebly. His jaws wrapped around his abdomen.

            _‘Oh God.’_

            He feels sick, he releases Dick, who’s body twitches, curls in on itself a bit, but doesn’t move. He shifts back.

“Dick?” He asks. Dick’s breath comes in uneven pants, his eyes shut “No no no, Dickie. Come on.” He slides towards him, hoping his fingers remember the first aid that Bruce drilled into him, because his brain surely does not “Come on. It’s not that bad, alright? It’s...” Blood seeps between his fingers, running over the back of his hand, dripping down his wrist “It’s going to be okay. Just shift back, alright? Shift back and I can... we can...”

            But Dick doesn’t. He just pants, whines when Jason presses more on the wound.

“God, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... I just...”

            Dick opens a bleary eye at him, lifting his head slightly and giving what Jason imagines is the best ‘reassuring smile’ Dick can muster. Fucking Dick. He’s bleeding out and trying to comfort the asshole who hurt him.

            _‘Why? Why are you so...’_

            Jason shakes his head to clear his thoughts. Dick is hurt. That’s what matters now. Dick is hurt and needs not to be. He glances around, spots the tattered remains of his clothes and moves to grab them, returning as quickly as he can manage on two legs, quickly creating a bandage and tourniquet from the fabric, wrapping them around Dick’s body.

“Come on, you gotta shift  back, okay? I know you can understand me. It’ll be easier to see the damage if you’re--.”

But Dick doesn’t, his head just lowers and his breathing begins to even out. Jason knows better than to take that as the good sign it initially appears.

He scoops Dick into his arms, carefully as he can manage, and tears through the house, screaming for Alfred.

 

The next moments are a blur. He remembers following Alfred, carrying Dick down to the cave med-bay, Alfred debating whether or not he should call a vet or a doctor. He remembers the bright lights of the lab, the natural coolness of the cave and warm water running over his hands as he washes off what he now realizes is Dick’s blood.

When he finally snaps to, he’s sitting in his room, on the edge of his bed, dressed, spoon in hand and ice cold soup on a tray in front of him. Judging from the taste in his mouth he’d been eating it, but judging from the cramp in his wrist he’d stopped a while ago.

            The memories rush back to him and he stands, before wobbling from the head rush, running out of the room and down the hall towards Dick’s.

            Where he found Tim, standing like a sentinel, staring him down. Looking as intimidating as anyone holding a giant bag of marshmallows could be.

“Tim...” He tries

“I’m not wearing the shirt.’  
“What?”

“The shirt. The three-wolf shirt. I’m not wearing it.”

“I see.”

“Good. So this time I get to tell you: Fuck you, Jason.”

            Jason doesn’t falter. He deserved that.

“How’s... how’s Dick?”

            Tim stares up at him, obviously debating on what to tell him before deciding.

“He’ll be fine. Pretty beaten up. Obviously.” Tim tosses “Needed some stitches but Al and Leslie think he should be fine in a few days.”

“Good.” Jason says, moving to move past Tim, towards the door.

            Tim steps in front of him, managing to actually look scary, despite his cheeks being full of marshmallow.

“I don’t think...” he starts, before swallowing a lump so large Jason tenses a bit “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

            He wants to remind Tim that he’s like twice his size and can move him, wolf form or not. And he’s sure Tim knows this, but he still doesn’t move. Fucking marshmallow eating bastard.

“I’ll tell him you stopped by.” He continues. “Marshmallow?” He asks, offering the bag to Jason, who, without really thinking, takes one

“Thanks.” he says, turning and walking away.

 

X

 

            It’s raining by the time he makes it back to the manor. It’s a longer walk than he realized, now that he’s not in wolf form.

            _‘And probably shouldn’t be ever again. Look what you did to Dickie you bastard.’_

            He’s trying to picture his life without shifting when he notices the light in Dick’s window is on, and there’s a shadow at the window.

            He squints, and makes out what’s appears to be Dick, staring down at him. Jason freezes, expecting Dick to give him the finger or at least an angry look, but instead, he just beckons him forward, then moves away from the window.

           

            Dick’s door is cracked open when Jason arrives, and Dick  is sitting on the edge of the bed. Jason pushes the door open and closes it behind him, approaching Dick.

“Hey.” Dick says, ideally, like there weren’t bandages wrapped around his midsection and Jason hadn’t just mauled him hours before. “‘Sup?”

            Jason stops in his step, blinking.

“... _‘Sup?’_ ”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I nearly killed you so...”

“Yeah yeah, old news. What else?”

“... Dickie it’s been like 4 hours.”

            Dick shrugged, then patted the bed next to him. Despite himself, Jason sat.

“You were right, you know.” Dick says, at length. “About me.”

            Jason raises an eyebrow.

“You’re right. I don’t shift into anything... _big_ or _scary_. I just... it’s not that I _can’t_ , I think. I just...” He worries at his lip “When someone finds out what I am... what I can do. The look in their eyes...”He trails off “Even in the circus. Growing up around them. When they found out what I could do, they were _scared_. They’d known me since I was in my mother’s womb and when they found out I could shift they--...”

            Dick worries at the blanket so much Jay’s afraid he’s going to tear a hole in it.

“I didn’t... I _don’t_ want people to be afraid of me. I don’t want anyone to look at me like that, ever again. People have a lot easier time accepting a cat than... than...”

“A wolf.” Jason adds

“Yeah.” Dick says. “Than a wolf.”

            There is a long silence between them, before Jason starts speaking.

“I lied to you... before. When you asked why I first shifted.”  
“I know.”

“When I was a kid, me and Mom... we used to go to the library all the time. Well, when Mom was” _sober enough_ “Feeling good enough, to go. We’d get books and she’d read to me. I always loved fairy tales, mostly because she loved them... Three-Little Pigs, Red-Riding Hood... you know... ones about--.” Wolves, the silence filled in for him “Once, dad was three sheets to the wind. Had me reading Red-Riding Hood to him, when he looks at me and says ‘You know, Son. There’s nothing scarier than a lone wolf’. The moment was kinda undercut by him puking on himself a few seconds later but...

            When I was 9, I came downstairs because I’d  heard her screaming. He was beating her so badly, there was blood everywhere and I knew... I knew that if I didn’t stop him he’d kill her. And then me and I--. I just _changed_.”

“God...”

“He left not too long after that. Got arrested and killed in jail after that. Mom died after all that and then... here I am.”

“You shifted to protect your mother.”

“I didn’t want anything to hurt her. Ever. I guess a wolf was just the first thing to come to mind. And it just _stuck_.”

            Dick stares at him for a long moment.

“Hey.” He says, at length “You think if I shift my stitches will stay?”

“... what?”  
“Like,  if I turn into something to heal faster... would my stitches stay?”

“I don’t... maybe? Don’t?”

            Dick frowns at him.

“You’re no fun.” He yawns, climbing more onto the bed “The meds are starting to kick in.” He says, sliding under the covers.

Jason helps him get settled, then heads towards the door.

“I meant it, you  know.” Dick says, after Jason “I meant what I said.”

            Jason turns to look at him.

“If you learn, by Halloween... I’ll kiss you.”

            Jason stammers a bit, then rushes from the room, before he embarasses himself.

 

X

 

            The dog days of summer are long over, and Jason sits on the soft grass in the sun, warming himself against the cool breeze. Halloween was right around the corner and he was going to show Dick, he was going to prove that he could do this. Could learn.

            Dick said he just _feels_ like a thing, and then he is it. But what the fuck do animals _feel_ like? What does that even mean?

            Jason sighs, shutting his eyes. Okay. A cat. Something simple. He let out a sigh. Okay, what do cats _feel_ like? What does being a wolf _feel_   like, for that matter? When he shifts into a wolf, he just pictures himself, imagines how a wolf sees the world around it, how it moves, breathes. How a cat does--.

            Oh.

            Well.

            Jason opens his eyes and finds himself still halfway in his sweatpants, a 10th of the size he’d been previously.

            _‘Oh God.’_

            As a sleek, black cat.

            He eyed his paws, stretched, walking in circles, trying to get a feel for it.

            _‘Well, I’ll be damned.’_

 

X  


            If pressed, neither could tell you who came up with the plan. It started with Tim casually mentioning how some kids at his school party in the cemetery on Halloween, usually trashing it, and the cops were generally too busy elsewhere to do anything. Jason’s eyes met Dick’s over the breakfast table and a silent ‘let’s fuck with ‘em’, was shared.

            Only, that’s not how it happened.

Getting to the cemetery was fine and all, finding the kids was a no brainer, but when Dick said “Let’s switch places” Jason couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Uh... what?”  
“Let’s switch places. Let me be the scary thing.”

“No, absolutely not.”

“Remember our deal? It is Halloween, after all.”

Jason swallows around the lump in his throat.

“Just, trust me.” Dick continues, stripping.

            Jason raises an eyebrow.

“What? Not everyone wants to get reamed by Al for destroying their clothes all the time.” He says, kicking off his shoes “He bought me this shirt for Christmas.”

            Jason rolls his eyes, but sighs, agreeing.

“Fine.” He says, closing his eyes, exhaling and, to Dick’s delight, shifting down into the sleek black cat he’d mastered just a few days ago.

“Holy fuck Jay, you did it!” he nearly shouts “And now, it’s my turn.”

            Jason watches Dick with abject fascination. He’s seen Dick shift a million times, but somehow, this felt different. Dick shifted slower, almost transforming. Jason could see the muscle building in him, bone and sinew shifting, giving way to something greater. Something terrifying.

 _‘Copycat.’_ Jason says. Dick just laughs, tilts his head back and howls.

 

X

 

            Halfway through scaring overly superstitious teenagers, Jason starts getting into it. Cats can move a lot faster than he thought, and some people take the ‘black cat crossing your path’ thing a bit too literally, as evident by the screaming.

            Though, a lot of that was Dick, who seemed to be having more fun than he should have, as he ripped through their mock temporary camp grounds, growling and nipping at heels.

 _‘Pretty sure that jock just peed himself.’_ Jason says

Dick sniffs, then winces.

_‘Yep.’_

            Of course, that’s when the cops come.

 

            They make a break for their clothes but are cut off by what appears to be animal control. How they got here so quickly is beyond Jason, but they split up to get away. Jason is just about to breathe a sigh of relief, sitting on the fence outside of the cemetery, when a sticky pair of fingers wrap around him with too much force.

“Mr. Bigglesworth!”

_‘Fuck.’_

Jason pushes against the glitter covered body that held him to it’s chest. A girl, probably 6 or 7 by Jason’s guess, Mom three steps behind and too many levels into Candy Crush to notice.

“Mr. Bigglesworth! I found you!”

He wants to shift back, tell the girl that he is in fact _not_ her pet. But then he’d be standing in the street, naked, holding a young child covered in glitter to his body and **_that_** was not a situation he looked forward to trying to explain.

He wiggles as hard as he can manage, but the girl holds on tight.

_‘Fuck.’_

 

An hour later, Jason is sticky, covered in glitter, and wrapped in a feather boa sitting in front of a tea set, a little girl pouring nothing into porcelain cups. He hates this. He hates everything. He hates this little girl in her stupid adorable nightgown in her stupid adorable room pouring him imaginary tea into this stupid adorable tea cup that he couldn’t even pick up because cats don’t have fucking hands.

“I’m so glad I found you.” She’s saying “Mom said you ran away because I left the window open. But I knew you’d come back.”

He wants to tell her that he’s not her cat. That her cat is probably dead and he’s actually someone who is way too old to be alone with little girls he doesn’t know, but that would require shifting back to human, and that would require explaining why he was naked, in a little girl’s room, covered in glitter.

_‘Gonna take ages to get all this shit off.’_

So he sighed, let her stick a tiny hat on him that ‘made him look classy’ and toughed it out.

 

After what felt like hours, Jason now had pink claws, glitter that he was sure would never, ever come off his skin, and a new found hatred of children. By the time the girl got called down for dinner, he was seriously contemplating taking his chances with shifting, and praying to God he could run before someone called the cops, when she got called down for dinner. She kissed him on the head and scratched behind his ear (which, yeah, felt pretty good he’s not gonna lie) and scrambled off, shutting the door behind him.

He’s preparing to shift back, when he hears a scratching at the window and looks up, to see a cat, nearly identical to him, wiggling it’s way in the small gap.

Mr. Fucking Bigglesworth.

 

He expected the cat to run away, or hide. Normal animals tended to avoid shifters. He did not expect the cat to, instead, after studying him from across the room for a moment, to approach him, and rub against him like, well, a cat in heat.

_‘Oh. Oh no.’_

Jason moves away, but Mr. (apparently, more accurately, **Ms.** ) Bigglesworth follows, yowling and brushing against him.

_‘Oh no no no I’m not gonna fuck a cat that’s... somehow really fucked up and I can’t even explain why.’_

But, despite his rejection, Mr. Bigglesworth is persistent, tail in the air, ass in his face.

Jason swats at the cat, catching her on the nose. She hisses angrily, but doesn’t attack him, just slides under the bed. Jason takes the moment to slip out the way Mr. Bigglesworth came in.

 

 

X

 

            It’s on the way back to the cemetery, where his clothes (hopefully) still are that he begins to feel something. To feel... exhausted. His eyes droop and he feels weary.

            _‘Oh. Oh no.’_

            This has happened before, a few times when he was younger, and more recently, months ago, when he ran away from the manor and spent too long in wolf form, only to be found in the morning by a groundskeeper, naked, in the woods.

            His body twitched and pulsed despite himself. He was still a ways away from the cemetery and there were trick-or-treaters out and Jason’s not in the mood to be charged with a sex crime. He spots the church, door slightly ajar and bolts inside, making it into the pews before he collapses, and - regretfully - shifts back.

            The world is spinning around him and he becomes painfully aware of how cold it is. He takes a few moments, thankful that Halloween wasn’t exactly a day that people decided to attend church on, and tries to focus on regaining some strength to shift.

            That is, until he hears a door open.

            _‘Oh no.’_

            And foot steps. Lots of footsteps.

            _‘Oh no.’_

“Come along, children.” He hears someone say, and that’s all it takes before he’s scrambling on his hands and knees under and around the pews, trying to find somewhere, _anywhere_ to hide.

            That’s, when he spots the confessional, and bolts inside as quickly and quietly as he can manage, holding his hand over his mouth to avoid breathing too heavily.

            _‘Okay. Kids don’t go to confession, I should be--.’_

“Your parents will be here soon.” Someone, a nun, he assumes, says

            _‘Fuck.’_

“And then the evening service will start.”

            _‘... I’m going to prison. I’m going to go to prison.’_

           

            Jason curls up on the bottom of the confessional, and prays.

 

X

 

            It’s all fine and dandy, (if by fine and dandy you mean crippling panic attacks) until the booth next to him opens, and someone slides in.

“Bless me, Father. For I have sinned.”

            _‘Oh, no oh God I’m in the priest’s booth God I’m going to hell.’_

“Uh...” Jason tries

“You see,” The, oddly familiar, voice continues “I’m trying _desperately_ not to make fun of my little bro.”

            Jason stops.

“Because, I’m pretty sure he’s butt ass naked in that booth.”

            Jason breathes an audible sound of relief.

“Dickie?”

            There’s an easy chuckle.

“Jesus Christ. Thank fuck. Tell me you have clothes.”

“Yeah. Tim brought some down. Yours are AWOL from the cemetery.”

“Fucking kids...” Jason mutters, hearing the booth open, shut, and then footsteps, before the door to his booth opens and Dick, with his usual grace, slides in, handing him a bundle of clothes.

            Jason starts to hastily slip into them, when he pauses, sighing.

“Really, Tim?” He mutters, looking down at the _easily_ too sizes too small Three Wolf Moon shirt in his hands.

            Dick shrugs.

“I didn’t look at them. I just told him to grab something for you.”

“Fuck you, Tim.” Jason mutters under his breath, struggling into the shirt, almost hoping it rips so they can finally be rid of it. Jason’s arms have not even reached his sides when Dick is on him, pressing his lips to his, kissing him with all of the passion Jason imagined a Dick Grayson kiss would have.

“I did promise, after all.” Dick murmurs, leaning back in for more

            Dick’s lips have just met his again, hands sliding under the shirt that Jason figured one hard cough would rip in half when the confessional opens.

“Oh.”

 

X

 

            They’re sitting in the back pews, rubbing hands sore from angry nuns with rulers, listening to Bruce struggle to explain why his sons are having ‘homoerotic relations’ in a confessional, when Dick turns to him.

“Happy Halloween, Jaybird.”

            Jason leans back in the pew, hearing a satisfying rip as the shirt finally begins to tear.

“Happy Halloween, Dickie.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tim Drake likes marshmallows. Jason Todd hates Three-Wolf-Moon shirts. Fight me irl.


End file.
